A/N:Two words on the portrait drawn by Martha Wayne are most puzzling. What do they mean? Sammie is in her sixth month of pregnancy and she suddenly comes down with a mysterious illness. Tim is with the Titans talking to new recruits, and one of them is from a far different place. Does he hold the key to Samantha's mysterious illness?

Neptune's Daughter

By

Part 9: A Fish Disease?

Red Robin slipped behind Kaldor when they approached the zeta tube. He pulled a cloth out of a pouch on his utility belt.

"HEY!" Kaldor cried out when his eyes were covered by the cloth.

"It's just a precaution," Red Robin stated. He wasn't ready to reveal who he was and he didn't want to violate Batman's rules about revealing the cave to strangers. It was better to be cautious then trying to back petal if the cat was out of the bag.

Red Robin led Kaldor into the zeta tube. Then plugged in the coordinates that would take them directly to Samantha's room. He kept a zeta band on himself at all times so he could beam out as soon as a mission or investigation had been completed. When they materialize, Red Robin quickly gestured to Damian not to reveal Red Robin's identity. Alfred had left earlier while Tim had gone to Titan's Tower. Damian nodded then Red Robin removed the blindfold. He let Kaldor's eyes adjust then led him over to the prone woman, more girl than woman. She looked to be about 17, and she looked like she was pregnant. What was more to Kaldor's interest was that the girl had white spots all over her arms.

"By Poseidon!" Kaldor exclaimed. 'How did an Altantean end up here with this human?' He moved closer to get a good look at her face and he nearly gasped. 'It cannot be. She resembles . . . '

"Can you help her?" Red Robin questioned.

"Red Robin?" Damian exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Who is he?"

"He is . . . " Red Robin indicated toward the being that he brought, but was his introduction was interrupted.

"I am Kaldor, an Atlantean. I recognized the illness."

"You know what it is?"

"It is Ichthyophthirius," Kaldor replied.

"Ich?" Red Robin replied. "How could she get Ich. That's a fish disease."

Kaldor examined Samantha further. His eyes went wide. "She is not human. She is Atlantean. We need to get her into the bath with the correct level of Mare Aquam."

"Mare Aquam? What is that?" Damian questioned.

"That's Latin for sea water," Red Robin answered.

"Sea water?"

"It is a mixture of salt and other minerals found only in sea creatures like coral. It accounts for the level of salt in ocean water."

Damian looked at Tim with a new respect.

"Coral is made of calcium carbonate. Can the compound be mixed and added to bathwater?"

"Yes," Kaldor replied. "It must be natural sea salt."

"Pennyworth uses sea salt in his cooking," Damian stated.

"Get it." Red Robin ordered. He pulled out of his utility belt a packet that contained calcium carbonate tablet. "Will these do?"

"Pure calcium carbonate would be better, but this can work," Kaldur interjected. "Can you show me to a receptacle where I can blend the minerals with the water."

Damian got up and went to the bathroom. He started filling the tub with water. "I'll go get the salt." He rushed out as quickly as he could.

"I wish this was deeper," Kaldor said. "It would be best if we could submerge her. It will have to do. I will need to crush the tablet. For this volume of water, eight calcium tablets to a cup of sea salt should be enough."

"They can dissolve in water," Red Robin said.

Kaldor reached in and touched the water. The water was a perfect temperature.

Damian came running back with the sea salt. "Here." He handed the container over to Kaldor.

Kaldor took the container of salt and calcium carbonate. He dropped the tablets into the water and then added the salt. "Please fetch the Atlantean female. Strip her and place her in the water."

Red Robin went over to Samantha and removed her loose clothing then carried her into the bathroom and lowered her into the tub. He was doing his best to hide his embarrassment. He didn't want Kaldor to discover his connection with the girl. Kaldor pulled a vial out of his pouch at his side. "We need to carry this with us at all times when we enter fresh water."

Kaldor opened Samantha's mouth and poured about one third of the liquid into her mouth. Then he poured the rest into the bath.

"The rest will be absorbed through the skin."

"How soon will we know she's better?"

"Look," Kaldor pointed toward the spots on her arms. "The white spots are already disappearing."

Damian felt Samantha's forehead. "Her fever is down." Damian seemed to be oblivious of Samantha's state of undress.

"She should be coming around," Kaldor stated.

Red Robin hung back while Kaldor and Damian remained close to Samantha. Samantha did finally stir, her temperature returned to normal, her own body automatically finishing the healing process as the vial of Atlantean medicine continued to work. She felt the cooling water on her skin and the twins stir within her. She rubbed her belly absentmindedly then opened her eyes and spotted Kaldor.

"What? Who are you?" She grabbed a nearby towel and covered herself. "Get out!"

/Easy, I'm not going to harm you,/ Kaldor spoke in Atlantean.

/What did you say?/ Samantha spoke in return. /How do you know my secret language? Only my mother spoke to me like that./

/Everyone in Atlantis knows it./

/Atlantis is a myth,/ Samantha said. /And get out of my bathroom!/

Red Robin recognized that tone if not the words. "I think it's best that we let her get dressed."

Red Robin pulled both Damian and Kaldor from the bathroom so Samantha could climb out of the tub. He noticed her robe was hanging behind the door. She at least had the means to cover herself. He couldn't help smirking when he saw the flushed look on Damian's face.

"That's what girls look like under their clothes," he whispered to his younger brother.

"I know that," Damian groused, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "I'm at least relieved that Mother is going to be all right, including my nephews."

Kaldor gave Damian a questioning look. He seemed too old to be the girl's son.

Red Robin couldn't comment, not without revealing his relationship to Damian, to Samantha, or his identity.

Samantha emerged from the bathroom five minutes later. "All right, talk. I want to know who you are, and what you were doing in my bathroom. And how is it that you know how to speak that language?"

Kaldor smiled. "I just told you. All Atlanteans speak it. I'm Atlantean, and so are you."

Red Robin's eyes went wide behind his mask. "Samantha's Atlantean? On boy."

Continues with Part 10